SCORES of people were feared drowned after a boat carrying about 200 people capsized south of Indonesia.

It is thought it was carrying asylum seekers trying to reach Australia.

Indonesian and Australian navies launched rescue efforts.

Around 90 people were still unaccounted for after an Australian navy patrol boat and three cargo ships rescued 110 survivors.

They were taking them 200 kilometres (120 miles) south to the Australian territory of Christmas Island, said Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Jo Meehan.

She declined to comment on any bodies discovered. She said the patrol boat would return to the scene to continue the search for survivors through the night.

The boat capsized about halfway between Christmas Island and Indonesia.

Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, is closer to Indonesia than the Australian mainland. It is a popular target for a growing number of asylum seekers, many from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, who attempt to reach Australia on overcrowded fishing boats from Indonesia – sometimes with deadly consequences.

“There’s about 40 on the hull and the rest are in the water,” Western Australia state Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said earlier. “Some of the very early reports suggest that up to 75 people may have drowned, but I do stress that they’re unconfirmed at this stage.”

Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency, said two Indonesian warships had been dispatched to scene. He said Indonesia has sent notice to all cargo ships passing near the area to help, but he was not sure whether any had reached the disaster scene.

He said the boat was reportedly carrying 206 people, but could not yet say their country of origin or from where they departed.

In December 2010, an estimated 48 people died when an asylum seeker boat broke up against Christmas Island’s rocky coast.

Last December, about 200 asylum seekers were feared drowned after their overcrowded ship sank off Indonesia’s main island of Java.